Not without him
by ourkidswouldbemartians
Summary: She screamed Daryl's name at the top of her lungs, the silence which followed felt like her heart was ripped out of her chest.


"Just talked to Rick, they caught Negan." Morgan said as he put the walkie-talkie back in his pocket. She nodded, this bastard was finally going to pay for what he did to her family.

"Where's Daryl ?" she asked him, she would not celebrate any kind of victory until she saw him.

Daryl, Morgan and her were fighting alongside the Kingdom. Thanks to Dwight's information they knew Negan and his men were going to attack Alexandria and Hilltop. In the meantime, The Kingdom was supposed to attack the Saviors that were left at the Sanctuary.

"He is not back yet, him among others are still inside, clearing some of the walkers."

Suddenly an explosion occurred, a whole part of the Sanctuary burst into flames, bits of glass flew everywhere, the blast knocking them on the ground. They could all feel the heat from where they were. Their ears were ringing and they seemed to be stuck in some kind of slow motion.

After what felt like an eternity, Carol slowly got up, hit by the horror of the situation -

was inside this building. Ezekiel watched her move and immediately guessed her intentions. As shocked and horrified as he was, he was not going to let her go in that building. He had lost enough of his team members.

"No…" He reached out to her but she pushed his arm away.

"We can't, you can't… it is too dangerous," he said, his eyes begging her.

But she turned her back on him, not listening. He knew this was probably a lost cause, this woman was just too damn stubborn but he grabbed her anyway.

"Let go!" she yelled trying to get off Ezekiel's grip

"You cannot go in there, I will not let you die!"

"Let go of me." She was getting angry. Angrier than anyone had ever seen her. Scarier too. "Let go of me!" She was struggling, kicking him where she could. Nobody else but them were moving, they all stood in shock. They had won, it was supposed to be over, but here they were again, facing pain and loss.

She managed to release herself from Ezekiel's grip and ran towards the part of the building that had not caught fire yet. She heard voices screaming her name behind her but did not look back and ran as fast as she could. She opened a heavy door and got inside an empty hall. From the moment the door closed behind her she could only hear the sound of walkers and the crackling of the flames, she had not idea which of these things were closer to her. Tears were rolling down her face, she was absolutely terrified so she prayed to a god she did not believed in anymore. As she ran, she begged him to let Daryl live. She begged him to let her see him, speak to him, hold him - anything, just one last time.

At the end of the hallway, she ended up on some kind of balcony overlooking a large room - full of walkers - she was breathing heavily. She managed to shoot most of the walkers from her position but quickly ran out of ammo. She was fuming with rage, she was terrified, she screamed his name several time. Desperate, Carol ran down the stairs ready to fight her way through the last walkers in the room with only her knife and machete.

One by one she killed them, her blade piercing through their skull, it felt easier and more effortless than ever for fear, despair and rage were creeping over her. When the last walker came up behind her she pulled out her machete as she turned around and finished him off.

She screamed Daryl's name at the top of her lungs again, the silence which followed felt like her heart was ripped out of her chest. She could only hear the flames raging the other part of the Sanctuary and she knew - given how burning hot the room was - that they were coming towards her part of the building very soon. So she screamed his name again, trying to find a way to the rest of the building, getting more desperate by the second.

Suddenly her knees gave out, she wanted to scream again, shout his name, shout her hatred for this merciless world but no word would come out. She was powerless, exhausted. She felt empty, her whole would be empty now. She could no longer move and thought that maybe she should let the fire consume her this time.

"Carol…"

Her heart skipped a beat to the sound of the tired voice. She slowly turned around and watched Daryl approaching, he was limping.

"I thought…"

She got up and ran to him. Daryl wrapped his arms around her as she pressed her face into his shoulder. She was so overcome with emotion she could barely speak.

"I thought you were…"

She hold on to him, arms around his neck. And he did just the same, one arm strongly holding her waist and the other stroking her hair.

"I'm sorry, got stuck couldn't fight my way through them walkers..." He said while she was sobbing. "I'm sorry"

"I'm good, we're good," he whispered.

The sound of his voice, the presence of his lips so close to her neck sent shivers down her spine. He was still here. They both were.

"We're good" he repeated, always reassuring her, unaware that his simple presence was enough to make her feel safe. She breathed him in one more time and moved her head from his neck to look at him. She looked at him and was hit by the realisation that this man has been by her side through everything. From the day her little girl disappeared in the woods to this war.

"We won," she said smiling.

That smile, Daryl thought, was worth everything they have been through.

"The war's over" she added, still smiling. And Daryl smiled in return for he could not find his words. He leant his forehead against hers but she gently stopped him in order to look him in the eyes again and cupped his face in her hands. The unconditional love and devotion she saw in his eyes made her tear up. She leant even closer and could feel the warmth of his breath on her lips. He closed his eyes, overwhelmed by his love for her, and let her close the gap between their lips. As he kissed her back, he tightened his grip around her waist, wishing to never let go. First gentle and chaste, the kiss deepened, their tongues tangled and it made her legs weak. She wrapped her fingers around the nape of his neck and for a moment it felt like there were no painful backstory or loss. It was just the two of them and that was the only thing that mattered.

Both out of breath, he felt her smile against his lips. Daryl gave one last lazy kiss on the corner of her mouth and gently pulled away.

"Let's get the hell out of here before our asses get barbecued," he said putting an arm around her shoulders. She chuckled, put one arm around his waist to help him walk and both got out of the building.

"How many times did you save my ass now?" he asked.

"I decided to stop counting a long time ago," she said, smiling.

Wounds, both physical and emotional, would take time to heal she thought but once again they were given the chance to start over and this time she had every attention to do so. With him.


End file.
